USA: shot children need more than bullet holes healed
Firearms are the most common cause of death for people under 17, outranking traffic accidents. Gun-related deaths amongst youths have doubled in ten years. Pew Research found gun deaths among under-18's in the USA rose by 50% between 2019-2021. It is not just the physical wounds that need treating. Experts who work with gunshot victims say that children who have been shot are much more likely to be shot again because they go back to the same places and the same people. That child not only gets traumatised physically, but also mentally. Young victims need help getting back on the right track - that means enrolling in school, finding new friends, and getting a job - to break the cycle of violence. Dr Katie Donnelly has launched a youth violence intervention programme. Instead of treating gun-shot wounds as isolated incidents, it takes that horrific moment in a young person's life and turns it into a starting point for change.
Burkina Faso: ‘Will we survive another 24 hours?’
Burkina Faso is shaken by political conflict and military coups. ‘Attacks against Christians are common. Many don’t know if they will survive another day. They see loved ones beheaded, raped or reduced to sexual slavery’, said Father Rouamba. He said that Christians are affected on a daily basis by the appalling actions of Al-Qaeda and IS. Terrorists began targeting Christians in Kompienga Province, east Burkina Faso, around Pentecost this year. ‘If people refuse to convert to Islam, they are forced to leave, but as the roads are blocked, they are left to wander around in the forest with no possessions, and many die due to lack of food. These are real tragedies that are not reported in the media.’ Father Rouamba wants to set up support units, offering spiritual and psychological support. Christians who had, to some extent, abandoned religious practice before the crisis are returning to their faith at a time when terrorists are trying to extinguish Christianity.
China: Christianity now banned
On 1 September, new rules came into force to limit all religious activities to official venues only and forbid displaying any religious symbols outdoors. All religious activity must be supervised by the state so that places of worship support the leadership of China’s Communist Party. Release International’s Paul Robinson says the new rules are tantamount to a complete ban on Christianity, but in fact Christianity in China is growing. The number of Christians in China has long surpassed the membership of the Communist Party. ChinaAid said they have not seen the Communist Party as bold as they have been this summer in playing God and twisting how the Gospel is taught. The only correct perspective in the eyes of the Communist government is worship of the state and placing faith in Xi Jinping.
Asia: Russia / North Korea alliance worries USA
Kim Jong Un will visit Vladimir Putin in September; the USA is concerned they will discuss North Korea providing Moscow with weapons to use in Ukraine. An arms deal makes transactional sense. Moscow needs ammunition and artillery shells. Pyongyang has plenty of both. Sanction-starved North Korea needs money and food after three years of border closures. Also, the breakdown of talks with the USA has left North Korea more isolated than ever. The US has warned of an arms deal between the two countries for some time: now, a leader-level meeting between Kim and Putin catapults this into the next realm. Russia’s desperate situation means Mr Kim will be able to extract a high price. On 4 September, South Korea's intelligence service briefed that Russia's defence minister has suggested that Russia, China and North Korea hold joint naval drills, like those carried out by the USA, South Korea and Japan, which Kim Jong Un so detests.
